Agriterra Ld Regulatory News (AGTA)

Agriterra Ltd / Ticker: AGTA / Index: AIM / Sector: Agriculture

29 May 2014

Agriterra Ltd ('Agriterra' or the 'Company')

Board & Management Appointments

Agriterra Ltd, the AIM listed pan-African agricultural group, is pleased to announce appointments to the Board and management of Agriterra as the Company builds on its established agricultural platform in Mozambique and Sierra Leone.

Overview:

· Mr Daniel Cassiano-Silva, a highly experienced financial professional with a background in African focussed publicly listed companies, appointed as Financial Director with immediate effect

· Mr Gert (George) Naude, a highly experienced agricultural manager with a proven background in large scale commercial agri-operations in Mozambique, appointed as Chief Operating Officer (Mozambique) with immediate effect

· Mr Naude replaces Mr Euan Kay who is retiring from day-to-day management but will remain as a consultant to the Company in addition to providing senior level guidance and support through his retained non-executive position on the Board

Andrew Groves, Agriterra CEO said, "This is a period of significant growth for Agriterra. I am delighted to welcome Dan to the Board; his extensive financial background, combined with his experience in Africa, and in particular in Mozambique, will be of significant value as we look to maximise our operating margins and create sustainable long-term cash generation and profitability.

"We are also very pleased to have secured the services of George Naude. George has a proven background in international agri-operations and in excess of 13 years' experience leading projects in Mozambique. As such he has the requisite skill set to continue driving our expansion plans in Mozambique. We remain particularly excited about our beef business where we are increasing the carrying capacity of our ranches through phased irrigation programmes, rapidly expanding the breeding herd, and optimising the feedlot and the established retail operations to build both critical mass and increase earnings visibility.

"Euan has been instrumental in the growth of the business over the years. The Board thank him for his many invaluable contributions, and are pleased to have secured his on-going expertise." 

Daniel Cassiano-Silva:

Mr Cassiano-Silva has over 13 years' financial experience and a wealth of operational expertise gained in Mozambique, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo with AIM quoted Paragon Resources PLC ('Paragon'), where, between 2010 and September 2013, he held senior positions as Group Controller and Compliance Officer and Chief Financial Officer. During this time he was resident in Mozambique for two years and, being bi-lingual in Portuguese and English, played a pivotal role in implementing Paragon's business plan both within the administrative and finance functions as well as operational matters. Dan joined Agriterra as Chief Financial Officer in September 2013 and has contributed significantly to the operations and strategy of the Company at all divisions. He remains on the Board of Paragon as a Non-Executive Director. Prior to joining Paragon, Mr Cassiano-Silva worked with Deloitte LLP as a Senior Audit Manager until 2009 and is a chartered accountant. 

Mr Daniel Lawrence Cassiano-Silva (age 36) has or held the following directorships and/or partnerships in the last five years:

Mr Cassiano-Silva does not hold any ordinary shares in the Company. 

There is no further information on Mr Cassiano-Silva required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i)-(viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

George Naude:

Mr Naude joins Agriterra from Tongaat Hulett, a leading Southern African focussed agricultural and agri-processing business, where he led the Mozambican operations as Agricultural Manager. During his six year tenure, Mr Naude transformed the operations under his care, which included 10,000ha of irrigated land producing annual yields of up to 600,000 tonnes of cane, maximising efficiencies and implementing policies and procedures to enable further expansion. In addition to being responsible for all standards associated with his designated agricultural operations, including land preparation, irrigation and drainage, Mr Naude also managed the operational and capital expenditure budgets for the business, led a team of 55 managerial staff and 5,000 employees and formulated medium to long term growth plans.

Prior to joining Tongaat Hulett, Mr Naude held the position of Agricultural Manager at Companhia de Sena, a major sugar cane producer based in Mozambique. Mr Naude spent seven years with Companhia de Sena during which time he advanced his skills in infrastructure development and oversaw the rehabilitation of newly acquired acreage into high quality commercially viable arable land. During his career, Mr Naude has also spent time on agricultural projects in Mauritius, Brazil, Tanzania and Malawi and has developed his foreign language skills, now being fluent in English and Afrikaans and proficient in Portuguese and Sena.

** ENDS **

For further information please visit www.agriterra-ltd.com or contact:

Notes

Agriterra Ltd is an AIM listed agricultural company with three core divisions: beef, maize, and cocoa. Its cattle ranching business, Mozbife, has an established breeding herd in excess of 4,800 head, a land holding of over 19,850 hectares, a 1,800 head feedlot, and established abattoir and retail operations. In addition to selling meat from its own herds, throughput for the feedlot and abattoir is supplemented with cattle bought in from local communities.

The Company's maize buying and milling operations, DECA and Compagri, are located in Chimoio and Tete in central and north-western Mozambique respectively. These collect maize from circa 350,000 farmers using the Company's own vehicle fleet, process it into maize meal, the African staple, and then sell it back to the local market, into supermarkets and to the World Food Programme.

Agriterra's cocoa business is centred on its 3,200 hectares of plantation, which includes a 1.7 acre nursery, located 35km south-east of Kenema. Its strategy is to establish itself as a secure, sustainable and traceable source of supply to meet the requirements of the major cocoa consumers who are placing increased emphasis in this area.